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But for a number of Siouxlanders, tweeting is the way they stay
in touch.

According TwitterGrader.com, the Sioux City Journal and a number
of its employees are the Top Twitterers (a.k.a. Tweeters) in the
Tri-State area with a rating of 98.9 percent, 1,024 followers and
23,996 updates.

Following the newspaper in popularity is Jerrid Kruse, who
earned a grade of 98 percent -- one his South Sioux City middle
school students would be proud of.

Kruse uses Twitter because a lot of teachers connect that
way.

"I post a lot of links to sites that I have found that are
useful in the classroom," he explained. "I'll say, 'Hey, I just
found this interesting link' and I'll get the same response from
other teachers."

In the ever-expanding world of social media, Kruse and other
educators are searching for ways to apply the latest technology to
learning.

"I previously used Twitter in the classroom until a teacher
brought edmodo to my attention," he said of edmodo.com, an
education-friendly Web site similar to Twitter.

"It's better because it's made for a school atmosphere," he
explained. "You have to have a code to access it. That's better for
students because it's not an open access like Twitter is. Students
need to understand that Twitter is not secure."

A bit further into the ratings is Beth Trejo, director of
investor relations with the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce; however,
she's still in the top tier with a 91 percent rating, 271 followers
and 433 updates. Last year, Trejo and two Morningside College
social media interns launched a chamber strategy that tapped into
the popularity of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

"I had been hearing a lot about businesses using Twitter as a
means of communication," she explained. "I thought it was a good
way to apply marketing concepts to get the word to others."

Trejo, who joined the chamber in 2008, learned to harness social
media as a communications tool in her previous job with the
Siouxland Chapter of the American Red Cross. She had attended
national training at Red Cross headquarters that focused on using
the platforms for disaster relief programs.

"With the chamber, Twitter helps keep members and others up to
date on various chamber and community events and happenings," Trejo
said. "And if someone has a question about where to eat or what's
going on, we can refer them to the chamber Web site or another link
that would answer their question."

Trejo hopes to provide the Chamber's roughly 1,100 members with
tips on how they can use social media platforms in their own
businesses. For example, many people are aware of Twitter, but
don't know how to use it effectively or fear it's
time-consuming.

"I probably tweet three or four times a day and that's about 10
minutes of my time. It's amazing when you realize that in one
Tweet, you can reach possibly millions of people," she marveled.
"It really made me realize the power of it when we tweeted
something about the chamber and an industry expert picked up on it
and put it on his blog in a manner of minutes."

LaKeshia Rainey started tweeting last fall just to see what
everyone was talking about. Now she boasts a 97.9 rating with 1,543
followers and 704 updates.

"I liked it because it was simpler than Myspace or Facebook,"
she said of two other social networking elements. "I also
discovered it was easier to tweet than to text."

Rainey's tweeting has evolved over the past six months.

"I didn't know what to tweet originally, like 'Should I choose a
chocolate chip or macadamia nut cookie?'" she admitted. "Now, I've
expanded to include more substantial information, like the blood
drive I do to raise awareness for Sickle Cell Disease."

Rainey noticed her friends were doing the same thing.

"They started out with, 'I'm back in town.' and 'Do you want to
go out?'" she explained. "I'm still getting those, but I'm also
getting tweets from people in marketing and business and they
provide me with insights that I find helpful."

Rainey is in the process of setting up a new business called
Common Ground, celebrations and entertainment.

"I'm still working on the particulars and the Web site," she
said. "When it's up, I'll definitely use all the social networking
to get it off the ground."

"I'm still doing a test drive on that one," she confessed. "I
don't know if I can keep up with Pastor (Floyd) Brown."

PC Magazine reports that Twitter's popularity has exploded from
about 475,000 visitors in 2008 to 7 million in 2009. The average
user hits Twitter.com about 14 times a month and spends about seven
minutes on the site.

Although some might dismiss the Twitterers as primarily teens or
college students, the magazine reports, the largest age group on
Twitter was 35-49.

Kruse, at 29, Rainey at 31 and Trejo at 26 are exceptions to the
rule.